Talladega College goes pink, defeats Miles College in 3 sets (2050 hits)

The Talladega College Tornadoes came out, started and finished strong on Tuesday night against Miles College at Callanan Gymnasium.

The Tornadoes defeated the Golden Bears in just three sets (25-15, 25-7, 25-7).

“I don’t think we were prepared,” said Miles College coach Deborah Jones, who is entering her fourth season as head coach. “We were just coming in off the road and we were rushing. We still have a lot of work to do. We didn’t live up to our expectations. We were playing with a lot of young ladies, and I expect them to step up more in the future.”

Talladega College used the match Tuesday to raise awareness and collect donations for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Lady Tornadoes coach Ron Burt addressed the crowd during the 10-minute intermission to raffle away a pink college sweatshirt, and to ask audience members to rise if they or a loved one has ever fallen victim to breast cancer.

The Lady Tornadoes also created pink ribbons to be sold around campus.

“We’re working in partnership with Citizen’s Baptist Hospital to benefit their Mammo Monday program,” said Burt. “Every Monday, women are allowed to get mammograms for $100. So for every $100 we raise, one woman gets a free mammogram.”

With the score set at 18-11 in the first match, the Lady Tornadoes went on a 5-0 run to further their lead.

KeShawna Ximines would eventually record the last kill to send the teams to opposite ends.

Talladega College snagged the first point of the second match, followed by a Raven Black

kill to take an early lead in the set.

With Miles College making several errors, the Lady Tornadoes went on a 9-0 run late in the second match for a 19-6 lead.

A few aces and kills later, Talladega College went to intermission with a 2-0 advantage.

“During the intermission, I told the girls to clean up a little bit,” said Burt. “(Miles College) was having some issues on serve/receive, so I said ‘let’s just serve them tough; don’t let them back in the game. We picked our serving up after that.”

Well, it worked.

After an error by Talladega College set the score at 1-1, the Lady Tornadoes hopped on a train they just couldn’t seem to get off of, going on a 14-0 run, led by server Gabby Powell.

“Gabby is my lone senior,” Burt added. “She’s a very versatile player. She can play outside. She can play right side. She’s also probably my second-best passer on the team. She’s a very all-around player. Wherever I need her to play, she’ll step in and do the best job possible.”

Miles’ Tiffany Stephens ended the streak when she recorded a kill over the head of Black.

Shonterrica Thomas added a kill on the ensuing serve, before the Lady Tornadoes went on another run. This time it was an 8-0 run.

Ximines would record the last point in the game with a kill to improve the Tornadoes’ record to 18-9.

Burt said that the ladies will practice tomorrow, then, they will leave Thursday morning to New Orleans to play two vital matches against Southern University on Thursday and Xavier on Saturday. Talladega College is tied with Southern University for third place in the conference, while Xavier is tied for first.

“It’s going to be a real big weekend,” Burt added. “We have to go in there 100 percent focused and 100 percent ready to play. The wins would put us right back in the driver’s seat for the division.”